Democracy in the Congress (Politics Essay Sample)

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A democratic government is based on the idea that the will of the people prevails. The US Congress is a good example of the government institution, which acts in a democratic way in all its endeavors. The Congress is the legislative body of the US government. It is mandated with the responsibility of making laws through drafting, debating, and presenting bills to the president for approval into the US laws (Trethan, 2012). The Congress is made of two chambers: the Senate (100 members) and the House of Representatives (435 members) (Flores, 2011). The way in which the Congress makes and passes bills into law is very democratic, because all the members have equal chances of participating in the law making process. The Senate and the House of Representatives represent all the people of the US. They actively take part in the legislative process in order to make sure that the views, wills, and needs of the people they represent are met. When a member of the Congress feels that a certain issue about the US citizens needs a legal address, he/she introduces the issue in the Congress through a motion. If the Congress feels that the issue is of public importance (based Article One of the US Constitution, which governs the operation of the Congress), the member presenting the issue prepares a bill and then tables it to the Congress, where it undergoes the law making process. If the president assents the bill, then it becomes a law. Thus, it is an illustration of democratic nature of the operations of the Congress.

Moreover, the Congressional elections are conducted in a democratic manner. The voters elect both the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Allowing the voters to choose their representatives in the Congress is a good illustration of democracy. In the Congress, every member is entitled to one vote. According to a study conducted by Barrett and Cook (1991), party affiliation is the principal factor that affects the voting behavior of the members of the Congress. Congress members tend to vote according to their affiliated political parties, which imply that if a member belongs to the Democratic Party, then he/she votes for the side supported by the Democratic Party. Other factors affecting voting behavior of Congress members are personal attitudes towards social welfare and personal policy preferences of the members (Barrett & Cook, 1991).